McCoy returns to MotoGP!
Signs two-year deal with FB CorseGarry McCoy surely must know all about the vicissitudes of motorcycle racing. Just a few weeks after being unceremonioulsy dumped as Triumph's factory world supersport rider and bracing for a year on the sidelines, the 37-year-old Australian will make a dramatic return to MotoGP to ride for FB Corse.
According to a report in the British weekly MCN, McCoy signed a two-year contract at the team's Italian headquarters last Saturday, and is eyeing a first ride on the 800cc triple at the end of February in Europe. McCoy also confirmed his collaboration with FB Corse on his Facebook page.
The bike, called the FB01, still has to be formally given the green light from grand prix organiser, Dorna, before it can join the other 17 bikes on the MotoGP grid in 2010.
American John Hopkins was always in the box seat to take the ride at FB Corse, but his 11th hour decision to race a Suzuki superbike in America left an opening for McCoy, who was still smarting after his sudden departure from Triumph.
"After going from not having a ride to being back in MotoGP, it's a bit of a shock," McCoy told MCN. "Even when I was in the WSB paddock, part of me thought that I would always get another shot in the GP paddock, but I have to admit that I thought it would be in Moto2, not MotoGP.
"I started talking to the team seriously last week after it was confirmed that John (Hopkins) wasn't going to ride for them. I wanted a two-year deal and the team agreed with me. When you're starting with an all new bike, one year is never enough and I didn't want to be in a position where we got it somewhere close and then I wasn't on it the following season."
McCoy last rode in MotoGP for the ill-fated Illmor squad in 2006, but he enjoyed his most success on a 500cc two-stroke, finishing on the podium 10 times between 1999-2001, for three wins.
During that time, McCoy's sobriquet became "Mr Squiggle" in light of his breathtaking power slides on the Red Bull Yamaha.
The FB01 runs an in-line three-cylinder engine, designed by the Oral Engineering Group. It apparently produces around 210hp.
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